This invention relates generally to coin handling apparatus, and more specifically to coin handling apparatus used to transfer coins from a coin hopper to a coin ejection location.
Many coin handling devices are known which are used for the transport of coins along a transport path between a storage hopper and a coin ejection location. Typical coin handling devices of this type are found in gaming machines which receive individually deposited coins in a hopper and transport a controlled number of coins in serial fashion from the bulk coin mass to an ejection location, whence the coins are received in a user accessible payout tray. Such coin handling devices typically include a hopper mounted to a base plate, the hopper providing the bulk mass coin storage, an agitator for stirring the coins in the bulk mass, a rotatable pin wheel, a rotatable transport mechanism for receiving individual coins from the mass and transporting the individual coins to a transfer station, and a coin escalator having an inlet adjacent the transfer station and a remote outlet from which coins are serially ejected when a payout is required. The coin escalator typically includes an elongate housing defining a coin chute, an optical or mechanical counting mechanism positioned at some location along the chute (typically near the outlet) for counting the number of coins ejected, and an interlock mechanism for deterring theft of coins from the upper end of the chute.
Despite the myriad designs which have been proposed, existing coin handling devices typically suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages. The first disability is relatively poor coin agitation. With known devices using the pin wheel design, the pin wheel must be uncovered in order to load coins on the pins which are located near the periphery of the pin wheel. Consequently, only the center portion of the pin wheel is available to provide the necessary coin agitation, and this is where the agitator is typically located, usually in the form of a star wheel or radially extending arms of other geometrical configurations. While this arrangement can sometimes provide effective coin agitation when the hopper is relatively full, the effectiveness of the agitation decreases as the level of the coin mass in the hopper bowl drops. In some designs, once the level of the coin mass falls below some threshold, coin agitation ceases even though there are still a relatively large number of coins in the hopper bowl. As a consequence, the coin handling apparatus is automatically disabled prematurely, necessitating a shutdown of the associated device (e.g. slot machine), which is undesirable. The second disadvantage with many known designs lies in a relative susceptibility to coin jams. It is generally acknowledged that the leading cause of failure for coin handling devices in the gaming industry is the condition known as a coin jam, of which there are three most frequent varieties: bowl jams, bent coin jams, and coin entry jams. Bowl jams occur when the coins in the hopper are agitated in such a fashion that a wedge effect is created between the bowl flange and the hopper housing. This wedge effect is stronger than the rotational force available from the drive motor (which rotates the pin wheel and agitator), as a consequence of which the apparatus is automatically disabled. Once disabled, the coin jam must be cleared by a service technician and reset for operation, which is undesirable due to the attendant down time of unknown length. Bent coin jams are caused by bent coins in the coin mass which can either cause a bowl jam or a coin jam at the transfer station at the inlet to the escalator. Coin entry jams are jams which occur at the transfer station between the pin wheel and the inlet to the coin escalator and, in addition to bent coins, are caused by failure to constrain motion of the coin at the transfer station within relatively precise lateral and radial dimensions as the coin transfers from the rotating pin wheel to the escalator inlet. A coin entry jam typically damages both the coin and the escalator inlet.
A third disadvantage with known designs lies in the vulnerability of individual coins to theft from the escalator outlet. Since the escalator outlet is typically accessible to a user, a variety of methods have been developed to steal coins from the escalator. One method employs the use of a thin instrument to hold open the escalator coin ejection device (sometimes termed a "kicker") as coins are being fed from the hopper, up the escalator and out the outlet. According to this method, the thin instrument is used to hold the moving kicker, which is mounted on the outside of the escalator, in the open position thereby allowing coins to move freely from the outlet. Although many gaming machines currently in use automatically disable operation after a predetermined time period if the kicker is blocked open, this does not prevent the theft of several coins. In addition, for gaming machines with such an automatic shutdown feature, the machine remains inoperative until a service technician arrives to inspect and reset the operation of the machine. A second method of coin theft employs a small flashlight to constantly illuminate the optoelectronic coin counter located near the outlet of the escalator to defeat the counting function afforded by such devices. In many gaming machines in use today, continued payout of coins for a predetermined period of time results in automatic shutdown of the device, with the same disadvantages as those noted previously. A third method, which is also popular, involves the theft of the top coin nested inside the escalator. This is typically done by means of a tool fashioned by the user to extend into the outlet and to the back of the escalator chute and to engage the back surface of the top coin in the chute. By manipulating the tool toward the outlet, the coin is forcibly ejected. In more sophisticated gaming machines, this results in the generation of a hopper error signal which disables the machine and requires a service call.
Efforts to devise a coin handling apparatus devoid of the above disadvantages have not met with success to date.